Send page Print

Democratisation / Comment

The Americas: democratic union or economic separation?

07/12/2005 By Laura Herrán Rosemberg

The fourth Summit of the Americas, the most important political event in the American continent, took place on the 4th and 5th of November 2005 in Mar de Plata, Argentina.

Attending the date were 34 heads of state, with the aim of “Creating work to combat poverty and strengthen Democratic Governance”. However, the summit veered off its initial theme, and the meeting concluded with a Final Declaration of little coherence, in which the varying interests of the countries of that hemisphere were represented: in terms of either support or rejections of the policies of the United States.

This comment, by Laura Herrán Rosemberg, analyses the importance of the summit for the consolidation of democracy in the Americas, counter posed to the arrangement of economic integration in the region.

Download the full version of this publication, available in Spanish (40 kB)

Keywords

Aid policy Mercosur NAFTA

Bio author: Laura Herrán Rosemberg

Graduate in Political and Social Sciences from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (1998), she obtained her Masters in Latin American Studies from the Université de Paris-Sorbonne Nouvelle (2000) and her Masters in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs from Columbia University (2004). She worked for the Liaison Offices of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Council of the European Union to the United Nations in New York. She has also worked as a consultant for the World Bank.